Summer of Love by Caro Fraser

 

• Hardcover: 512 pages
  
• Publisher: Head of Zeus (12 July 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1788541383
• ISBN-13: 978-1788541381

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

The dark days of the war are over, but the family secrets they held are only just dawning.

In the hot summer of 1949, a group of family and friends gather at Harry Denholm’s country house in Kent. Meg and Dan Ranscombe, emerging from a scandal of their own making; Dan’s godmother, Sonia; and her two young girls, Laura and Avril, only one of whom is Sonia’s biological daughter. Amongst the heat, memories, and infatuations, a secret is revealed to Meg’s son, Max, and soon a terrible tragedy unfolds that will have consequences for them all.

Afterwards, Avril, Laura and Max must come of age in a society still reeling from the war, haunted by the choices of that fateful summer. Cold, entitled Avril will go to any lengths to take what is hers. Beautiful, naive Laura finds refuge and love in the London jazz clubs, but Max, with wealth and unrequited love, has the capacity to undo it all.

 

Review

The Summer of Love covers the years 1948 – 1963 and follows the lives of Max, Avril, and Laura as  they grow from teenagers to adults and have to face that they have all been lied to by their parents about different things.  When I started this book I didn’t realise that Caro Fraser had written a previous book to this focusing on the lives of the parents of Max, Avril and Laura and the secrets of the past.  You can read The Summer of Love as a standalone, the history of the characters and previous events are explained so you miss nothing.

Max is eleven at the start of this book, his father died a hero in the war and his mother Meg, has remarried Dan who Max has a fantastic relationship with, until Avril interferes.  Avril tells him his mother and Dan were in fact having an affair before his father died.  This destroys Max’s world and has devastating consequences for nearly twenty years.

Avril is a cousin to Max and a very unhappy and troubled young woman.  Her father was a famed artists who died when she was young and she was brought up by her mother Sonia.  Sonia also took in the child of their nanny, after she fell pregnant, and brought her up like Avril’s sister.  Avril resented Laura as she was pretty, had a loving nature and was everything Avril wasn’t; but this caused jealousy and resentment.  After her mother’s death she takes her revenge on Laura, she feels Laura got all the love and attentions that she deserved as her biological daughter so deprives her of what was rightfully hers.

Laura only knows the her mother was the nanny and nothing about her father but Sonia has brought her up like a daughter, which causes the jealousy of Avril.  After Sonia’s death Avril stops her education, and makes life very difficult for her.  Laura is a person who needs to be loved and false in love with Ellis Candy, a coloured Jazz Saxophone player and moves out.  Laura’s early adult life is spent looking for love and falling in and out of some very dubious relationships; she wears her heart on her sleeve.  Of all the characters it is Laura who touched me the most. She has a big heart and is treated very unfairly in life by Avril and in a way by Max himself.

Caro Fraser writes with ease so the prose is fluid and meanders along at a steady place, following each character as they face the trials of life; love, death, sadness, happiness. Her detailed descriptions and research give a wonderful sense of place and make the characters and settings very natural. There are some very difficult issues raised in the book that were very relevant in the 1950’s 1960’s; racism, drugs, unwanted pregnancy, homosexuality.  All are dealt with realism and empathy, and in keeping with that period of history.

Summer of Love is a beautifully written, engaging and intelligent read.  The characters were memorable and drew you into their stories, and the plot had me engrossed.  The ending left a lot of open ends but I presume this is because Caro Fraser is going to write the next chapter in the lives of Max, Avril and Laura.  An atmospheric and encompassing read, perfect for those summer holidays.

Thank you for reading my review of Summer of Love I hope you enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it so much that I have purchased the prequel The Summer House Party. I love reading your comments and appreciate all you likes and shares, it helps me grow my blog.